Celebrate the Holidays… Diva Style!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas will be here before we know it! In the spirit of family fun and the holidays…the divas are here to share their favorite holiday family traditions!
It is never too early or late to start unique traditions that will carry through generations.
Whether your family is big or little, there is a tradition here for you!

BINGOBy: Kari

My family plays BINGO every Christmas Eve after dinner. My mom goes to the dollar store and buys tons of fun little gifts! She then wraps them all up and puts them on our kitchen counter. As we play the bingo game everyone gets to bingo once per card (we each have 2 and the kids have 1) per round. We play until all the games are gone. It’s a lot of fun for the adults and the kids alike! Opening some fun gifts the night before gets us warmed up for the big occasion of Christmas morning.

Gingerbread HousesBy: Bridget

Every year, the first week in December, my family makes gingerbread houses.
Sometimes they are simple, but sometimes they can be pretty elaborate!
It is a blast and is a fun tradition we look forward to every year!

Decorating the Tree & Finding SnowBy: Kristen

We live in Southern California where it is warm most of the year. Every Christmas, we make it a tradition to pack up the car and head to Utah where it is snowy and where we have lots of family.
It’s not Christmas without the snow, or the family. 🙂

We also put on silly Santa hats and decorate our tree together each year.

PuzzlesBy: Erika

Growing up (and even after siblings started getting married) all my brothers and sisters and I would sleep in the same room Christmas Eve. My parents would give us a new puzzle each year and we HAD to have it completed before we could wake them up Christmas morning to open presents. When we were little, they didn’t have very many pieces, but the older we got the more complicated the puzzles became. However, it was a great tradition because as an excited child that couldn’t sleep there was something to do to pass the hours. The tradition has continued on and now been passed on to our children.

Every year we write letters to Santa Claus at the North Pole. I love to enhance the letters, so I place a 8×10 white paper on a 12×12 Christmas scrapbook paper. Sometimes I’ll actually send a real note (not the original ones the kids write… because I keep them for their scrapbooks) to the actual North Pole.

We also have Santa leave a letter for the kids next to the “empty” plate of cookies that we leave out for him. The letter usually says something along the lines of “Thanks for that delicious snack! I’m keeping the last cookie in my pocket for Rudolf outside – he’ll love it! I’ve been watching and know you have been good… etc.” Not too long, but always cheerful and filled with gratitude.

Cookies and Milk for SantaBy: Lisa M.

A simple, classic Christmas tradition that we cherish is leaving out yummy, homemade cookie and ice-cold milk for Santa on Christmas Eve! We spend part of the evening baking up a storm… making classic chocolate chip cookies or whatever cookies we think that Santa will fancy for the year! We use THIS super cute Santa plate and mug. Especially made with love for good old Saint Nick! After the kids are tucked in and fast asleep, Dom and I “help” Santa on his way by nibbling a bite or two while we make sure the tree is set juuuust right! 😉

Picking the Right TreeBy: Cami

A tradition that Joseph and I started with our family is going shopping for a LIVE Christmas tree and then decorating it together as a family. It sounds simple and something that a LOT of people do, but we truly look forward to it ever year. We just love driving to a lot and looking at all the trees and then picking our favorite. It’s so much fun! Our oldest LOVES this and has totally picked up on the tradition. Even our youngest has started to remember and looks forward to it each year.

Songs, Games, and MoreBy: Wendy

A long time ago, my family changed the words to the song, “12 Days of Christmas” to fit and describe OUR family. Each year now we pull it out, including pictures to remind us of what each number was, and we sing it. Along with that, we do other fun songs and games after we eat a potluck dinner. Before we had children, my hubby and I used to sleep out by the lit up tree on Christmas Eve in sleeping bags all night, UNTIL we had our kids… now we don’t. That was fun to snuggle and be together!

New Pajamas & Christmas OrnamentsBy: Lisa P.

My family always opened up two gifts on Christmas Eve…. that made our night of traditions extra special. We open up new pajamas and a Christmas ornament to place on the Christmas tree. It always reflects who you are and was always very exciting. One year I received a beautiful Ballerina that was amazing. I was really into dance so it meant a lot to me then and still does today. When I got married my mom gave me all of my ornaments I received growing up so that I had my own collection to start with. Needless to say, I have lots of fond memories for each of them that I have. I have continued this for our kids and will continue to carry the traditions of both pajamas and ornaments for our tree.

The Christmas Story

By: Tara

One of my most fond Christmas memories growing up was an event that always took place on Christmas Eve. We would do all of the FUN Christmas Eve stuff like getting new pajamas and each of us opened up a present to reveal a beautiful new ornament that represented something we had accomplished that year {just like Lisa P.}. BUT – for me, the magic happened AFTER that! ?

My parents would gather all of us around the Christmas Tree, we would turn on the beautiful Christmas lights, and all of the other lights in the house would be dimmed. My dad would prepare a cozy fire, and we would all snuggle together on the couch….all five of my siblings and me. My mom would bring down a huge platter filled with all types of Christmas delights for us to snack on. The Bible would then come out and either my mom or my dad would read The Christmas Story to us. The most peaceful feeling would overtake me, as we all listened as the true meaning of Christmas was shared. Afterwards we would sing Christmas hymns together while looking at our gorgeous lit-up Christmas Tree. It’s those precious moments with my family that I cherish! I absolutely LOVE being around them…and now that we all live in different states, those are the memories I reminisce about the most.

P.S. It wasn’t always like that…I remember reenacting The Christmas Story when we were really little…and I think my sisters and I always fought to be Mary! Why? Well, Mary got to wear this really cool turquoise knitted shawl! {Lol} Hearing the Christmas Story definitely became more meaningful as we grew older.

Now that I am “all grown-up” – I am hoping to carry on that tradition with our OWN children. Don’t get me wrong…I absolutely LOVE all of the other fun things that we do around Christmas time!! It’s my FAVORITE time of year. But there is just something special and definitely needed about taking a moment to step back from all of the commercial Christmas fun to reflect on the special event that took place a long, long time ago. ?

“Naughty & Nice” List

By: Char

A few weeks before Christmas as a young child, my parent would remind me about Santa’s naughty and nice list. They told me IF I cleaned my room every night before I went to bed and left a small dish out, then Santa’s Elf’s would come fill it with candy! I have the best memories cleaning my room with only the Christmas lights on that were strung across my ceiling while we listened to Elvis Presley, “Blue Christmas.” My husband and I are so excited to start this tradition with my young family this year!

Elf on the ShelfBy: Corie

He sees you when you’re sleeping…He knows when you’re awake!

He knows if you’ve been bad or good…so be good for goodness sake!We started a fun tradition a few years ago with the “Elf on the Shelf.”
(This book comes with not only a book…but also your very own elf!)

To start off this tradition:1. You read the darling story about one of Santa’s elves.2. You then get to choose a name for the elf.3. You then place the elf in a different location each day.4. Your kids will love looking and searching the house for your elf’s new location1* This is the best reminder that boys and girls need to be on their best behavior….because each night your elf leaves home and reports back to Santa Claus!

Wow! There you have it! A great holiday tradition list straight from the divas!
Now it’s your turn! Let’s add to the list! Please share your FAVORITE holiday tradition!

These were so great. This is really the first year my husband and I have gotten to spend Christmas together, and we have two little girls now. We have been talking a lot about traditions we could start with our own little family. These were very inspiring, thank you so much. I check this site every morning and several times throughout the day. Thanks so much for updating so often, and updating such informative topics!!!!

I love the traditions. My husband and I have a tradition to open up a bottle of sparkling apple cider before bed on Christmas eve since we stay at his parents house. It's our moment just the two of us. I am hoping to keep it going.